The Lone Fox REDUX
by Dzero9
Summary: Naruto is a loner, who has let very little people into his circle. But when Ino loses her seat and sits next to him, well... :Remake of my first story:
1. Kindness

**A/N: **So people don't get confuzzled and dumbfounded here's the layout of this fic:

"Naruto" - Speech

_'Naruto'_ – Thoughts

"**Naruto" - **Demonic

_**'Naruto' – **_Demonic Thoughts

**Naruto **- Jutsu

With that out of the way I'm pleased to announce an official Redux of my first fic, Lone Fox. I didn't like how my story was in the beginning so I kind of disowned it. Now I'm taking it back and remolding it into something better. It's still a NaruIno crack pairing, so that hasn't changed. So without further ado—let's get started!

**I don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Alright, where is he?"

"I see him, there!"

A young boy can be seen on this particular dark day in Konohagakure. The young boy was running away from the villagers with expertise, he had just stolen some food from them and was on his way home. He ignored the shouts from the people and kept running— His wild blond hair was matted to his face, his eyes held a look of hurt and betrayal. Naruto Uzumaki was just back stabbed by the person who taught him everything he knew about surviving alone, and being a ninja.

_'Aka... Why? Why did you tell them?' _Just as he was about to steal the food, 'Aka' had told the villagers where he was, and they gave chase. Naruto reached his home in time, the villagers were long gone— his distractions paid off. His home was simply an abandoned building. He went inside and broke down, Naruto punched the floor with his fist. Angered that Aka betrayed him. Aka was the name of the woman who took the blond boy under her wing, Naruto idolized her, because she was the first person he let someone to truly know him. Naruto was always alone, he raised himself after getting kicked out of the orphanage, as such he taught himself how to read, write, and even increased his vocabulary.

The blond got up and wiped his eyes, he got by on his own—and that's how he liked it; but to have someone enter his inner circle only to do something so...

"It doesn't matter, I need to get some rest for the graduation exams." Naruto climbed the rickety ladder up to his bedroom. It was there he removed an orange sheet on the wall to reveal a gaping hole. He smirked as the memories of his **Shadow Clones **flowed into his mind. They put up quite the chase—they were key in his daring escape from the clutches of the villagers; unfortunately they got caught. The loner put the sheet back over the hole and went to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Outta the way Ino-pig!!"

"You move, Forehead!!"

Naruto sighed from his seat in the back of the class, He watched in mild amusement at Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka's race to the seat next to Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto resented Sasuke, a lot. Naruto hated the way people flocked to him, and his stuck up attitude. He thinks that being an Uchiha meant everyone has to kiss your behind. It made the blond's skin crawl.

"Hah! I win! Chew on that, Ino-pig!" Sakura looked up at Ino in triumph in the seat next to Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't notice, or rather he did his very best to not yell at the girls. Their behavior irritated him to no end; they just don't get him at all.

Ino sighed in defeat and looked around for available seats, almost everyone had a seat next to somebody—save for the other blond in her class. With a shrug, she moved to sit next to him, maybe she could get to know him more. Naruto knew she was coming, but paid her no mind; that was until he picked up the scent of flowers. He looked up to see the blond girl looking at him in front of his desk.

Ino looked away when their eyes met. "H-hey Naruto, I lost my seat to forehead—I-I was hoping you could let me sit next to you." Naruto leaned back on his chair and put his hands behind his head. He might've been a loner, but he wasn't a total prick.

The blond boy grinned. "Sure, no one's stopping you." Ino nodded dumbly and quickly sat down. Iruka came into the classroom via poof of smoke.

The scarred instructor cleared his throat. "Alright class, today is the final day of the academy for some, we will be taking the graduation exams in the following order..." Iruka proceeded to write the graduation exam tests on the board, Naruto cringed when he saw that the written test was first. Ino took note of Naruto's displeasure. The boy was a treasure trove of secrets and mysteries—from what the flower girl knew about him, Naruto was homeless, and an orphan. Also for reasons that escape her, he was hated by the villagers. This confused the platinum blond, surely he might've stole some food or clothing... but that doesn't justify their hatred. But there's her dad's warning:

_You should be careful around him, don't do things to make him hate you._

Before the blond knew it, Iruka had already erased the board, and was passing out tests. Ino gasped, She didn't know what they were doing! Maybe Naruto knew?

"Psst... Naruto..." Ino nudged his elbow a bit.

Naruto looked over to her. "You called?"

"Er, what did Iruka-sensei say? I wasn't really listening."

Naruto shook his head. "He said the written exam is on the Hokage History, and on the 3rd Shinobi War. The next portion is on the transformation justsu. Lastly—we must make a clone, easy right?" Ino blused in embarrassment. '_I need to pay attention' _The written exam went off without a hitch, Ino was the second done next to Forehead. The flower girl took the time to further scrutinize the boy next to her. His hair was the deepest shade of blond she's ever seen, even amongst her own clan. Plus he has those whisker-like marks on his face, it kind of gives him an exotic, feral, and mysterious appearance. Then there's his eyes. They are the kind of blue that can see your true character by looking into your soul. Ino noticed he was done, the boy prompted to put his head down. _'You're a mystery Naruto... what are you really like?' _

The next portion of the exams was to do a transformation jutsu. Iruka gave out instructions, "Class, line up. You will each do one transformation of me, now who's first?" Everyone went down the line, Iruka passed and failed the genin hopeful; finally it was Naruto's turn. The blond loner walked up to Iruka-sensei with an indifferent expression, the kids of the class threw jeeers and whispered insults at him. Ino heard them all but it looked like Naruto didn't notice, or rather he could care less, Iruka nodded to him, "Okay Naruto, just transform good enough to pass." The sensei said kindly.

Naruto faced the class and transformed. What he transformed into made everyone gasp—He wasn't Iruka, but a blond man wearing a white trench coat with red flames licking the bottom. He had a jonin outfit underneath, and an icy blue glare that promised death.

Iruka had to slap himself. "Th-the Fourth Hokage? Is that you?" The Fourth turned to Iruka and in a poof of smoke, Naruto stood back where Konoha's greatest Hokage was.

"I think I did great, considering the shock value."

Iruka was beyond impressed. "Well done, Naruto! You've come a long way from your old trouble making days." He said with a lot of pride in his voice. Naruto nodded, unsure of what to say and took his seat.

For some strange reason, Ino felt compelled to shout "In your face!!" to those who mocked Naruto. She felt compelled to run up and congradulate him, but she didn't know why. Maybe Naruto has this effect on people, but still... "Good job Sasuke, you may take your seat." She heard Iruka say. The platinum blond didn't know what to think, she noticed Sasuke walk by.

Ino flipped her hair trying to look prettier. "Congrats Sasuke-kun." The young Uchiha grunted and stalked off.

Finally, it was time for the clone test. The test in itself, was simple on paper—just make a clone. It was easy for some, but difficult for others, and it was their last chance to get enough credit to pass. They were called in ascending order, when it came to Naruto, the blond got up and calmly walked down.

"Uh... Do your best!" Ino called to him. The students gasped and looked at her funny. "Aww, what are you busy bodies looking at!?"

Naruto chuckled a bit. _'Thanks' _he thought. He entered the other room to see Iruka-sensei with some other chunin. Iruka shuffled his papers. "Naruto, you know what to do. Just make a clone, and you pass."

Naruto nodded and started concentrating his chakra. _'I've always been bad at clones... well, here goes...' _

Iruka's eyes widened when the loner made five clones. Naruto decided to explain himself:

"I'm awful at normal clones because I have such a massive chakra reservoir. I was about to do it, but I got nervous, so I made **Shadow Clones**_**." **_

Iruka went up and poked on in the forehead. "Wow, they're solid! I'm impressed. You could be rookie of the year with this level of improvement! I mean, you ace the written test, blow my mind with the transformation, and now this!"

That's when Naruto frowned. "Not. Interested."

Iruka took note of the blond's comment. "Well, let's not sour the mood. Take your headband, Naruto."

Meanwhile the other blond was anxiously waiting for her turn, that's when the door opened, revealing Naruto with his headband displayed on his forehead. For some reason, Ino was glad and relieved he passed. She had no idea why.

"Good job, Naruto!" Ino congradulated. Naruto's face flushed when he saw her smile, the blond shook his head and sat down.

Naruto looked at the front of the class. "Hm... make sure you pass, too." His fellow blond smiled and nodded.

...At the end of the day, it was finally Ino's turn. The platinum blond headed down with a skip in her step, Sakura couldn't help herself, "Hey Ino-pig! You better not fail _too _badly!!"

Ino snorted. "I don't plan on it! I'm gonna pass and make Sasuke-kun mine!!"

Sakura grinned. "Oh really? And the reason why your talking to that Naruto guy is...?" Ino stammered and darted her eyes between Naruto and Sakura. "Th-that's—"

"INO HURRY UP!!" Iruka shouted, effectively ending the little spat. Ino emerged later with her headband around her waist, she stuck her toung out at Sakura who looked away with a huff—and with a satisfied smile, Ino took her seat next to Naruto.

Soon after, Iruka stepped back into the classroom. "I am pleased to announced that the pass/fail rate is a whopping 82% This year! That's the highest ever for a starting instructor like myself, and you all made it happen. Those who passed, I'll see you all next week after you take your photo I.D. and register—for those who failed... there's always next year. You are dismissed."

The passing students cheered and left the failing students in the dust, meanwhile Naruto had to know something—

"Ino!" He called at the door.

Ino turned around. "You called?" She said jokingly.

Naruto wasn't amused. He looked off to see that her folks aren't here yet. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

The platinum blond tilted her head to the side playfully. "Whaddya mean? It's in my nature!"

Naruto felt like someone punched him in the gut. "In your nature? Don't make me laugh. You used to be one of the very kids who picked on me growing up! And know you're being nice to me... what is it? Needed a fall guy from losing your seat next to 'Sasuke-kun'? You felt sorry for me? Or was it a plan to make yourself look uninterested in Sasuke to only swoop in and take him." When Ino put her head down, Naruto frowned. "Which is it? Hey, Ino—I'm talking to you!"

"Shut up, Uzumaki!!" Naruto flinched. Ino was angry, her cheeks were rosy and... she was close to tears? "You think I wanted to pick on you? NO! Ever hear of peer pressure? And I decided to sit next to you because I wanted to know you! And you seemed like a nice boy who has been through a lot! I was cheering you on because I wanted you to succeed, not to make myself look like I was losing interest in Sasuke! Darn it Naruto—why do you have to be a jerk!"

Naruto was stunned silent. He couldn't close his slightly ajar mouth he was so shocked. When Ino was about to run away in tears, Naruto grabbed her arm. "I-Ino, wait. I'm sorry, I... never thought someone sincere could offer me such kindness, I just couldn't accept it. I've been alone for so long I can't tell kidness from false affection anymore. Forgive me, please."

Ino turned to him a bit. "...How do you know I'm not lying?"

Naruto grinned. "People smell a little like metal when they lie. You still smell like flowers."

The girl blushed as she wiped some tears away. "That's good to know. Sorry for blowing up at you."

Naruto shook his head. "No, no. I'm sorry for what I said. What you did was a natural response."

Ino smiled. "Okay... well can you let me go? I gotta get home, too y'know."

Naruto quickly let go and tried to suppress a blush. "Sorry. I'll be seeing you Ino."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Naruto still couldn't get this warm feeling out of his gut. It felt so familiar, but foreign at the same time. He hasn't fellt this since—

"--Aka, why did you do it?" He looked out of the hole in the wall into the night sky. "Well, no thanks to you, I have a friend now. I hope we can go on missions together."

Meanwhile in the Yamanaka house, Ino was enjoying a celebratory dinner in honor of her graduating. Since this was a celebration, the platinum blond let her diet slip. "So anyways, we became friends. I think I'm Naruto's first friend!" Ino proclaimed after telling today's events. Inoichi, Ino's father and jonin, congratulated her with praise, but Ino's mom however was strangely silent.

"It's about time you show some interest in another boy than Sasuke..." He joked.

Ino slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "Daaddy!! Stop kidding around!" She shouted with a blush.

"Yes... let's not joke too much...." Her mother replied quietly.

Inoichi caught what she said. "Huh? What was that?"

His wife's eyes narrowed at her their daughter. "Ino, I forbid you from seeing that boy!"

The platinum blond was shocked. "Whoa, h-hey—Mom! You can't do that!"

"I just did!" She snapped back. Ino was taken aback by her mother's sudden outburst. With a huff, Ino ran upstairs and slammed the door shut.

Inoichi stood up and faced his wife. "You and I need to talk."

Upstairs under some pillows, Ino could hear her parents arguing, but the sounds were muffled. She punched a pillow off the bed in frustration. _'It ain't fair! Mom always wants to control me!' _Ino's mother was a civilian who didn't know squat about ninjas, she made her daughter go on a diet, chase after Sasuke, and before that—tried to take young Ino out of Ninja Academy. She just doesn't get it at all. The platinum blond looked up when she heard the door open.

"Ino? Are you awake sweetheart?"

Ino sat up on her bed. "Yeah, daddy."

Inoichi walked in with a lofty smile. He sat on his daughter's bed and put his arm around her. "You okay? You knda left your celebration..."

Ino sighed. "It _was _a celebration 'til mom ruined it."

Then, it was Inoichi's turn to sigh. "Ino, you have to forgive your mom. She's like the rest of the villagers who hate Naruto."

His daughter looked up at him. "I don't get that, why do people hate him?"

Inoichi looked down. "I can't say."

Ino didn't believe him, but she didn't press it. Inoichi got up. "Now, get some sleep. You don't have to worry about what your mom says anymore. You're a ninja now, and that headband proves it. You have to make your own adult decisions now."

Ino smiled as her father left, closing her door. Ino later went to bed with what her dad said. _'You're a ninja now.'_

* * *

**A/N: Done and done! How do you like this newer version? Like it? Hate it? Don't care either way as long as I update? Now that Naruto passed, what's in store for him? Will he head down a road of fame and fortune, or will he fall down an ill fated road of death and dread. Who knows? I know! See you next time!**

**-Dzero9, out.**


	2. Teams

Lone Fox: Chapter 2

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto awoke the next day feeling refreshed. He had to go to the Hokage's office to get his registration done and his I.D. picture, but that wasn't for a while; the loner quickly got up and ate before he left the place he called home. The loner found himself at the old training grounds behind his house, Naruto had a forlorn expression across his features—this was where Aka had trained him. Naruto was caught up in the memories of Aka... he remembered when they first met...

_-Flashback-_

_A seven year old Naruto swung sadly on the lone swing outside of the ninja academy. He had just failed the graduation exams for the first time—and he took it rather harshly. Naruto was a troublemaker and school dunce by choice, it wasn't his fault—he just wanted attention, for people to acknowledge his existence, but..._

"_Well, well, well. Looks who's here, girls!"_

_Naruto looked up part way to see a group of girls in front of him, a purple haired girl, a blond, and his crush, Sakura._

"_Uh... H-hiya ladies! What's going on!?" Naruto happily asked. The violet haired girl scoffed and pushed him off the swing. The blond boy hit his head on the tree, he put his hand on the back of his head and hissed in pain. "Oww... what was that for!?"_

_Sakura and the purple haired girl laughed. "Don't you get it? This is called a beat down, this is what you get for acting so high and mighty by trying to take the graduation exams!" The purple girl kicked him in the stomach. Sakura laughed as Naruto coughed._

"_Haha! Serves you right! This is what you get for trying to one up Sasuke-kun!" Naruto couldn't believe what was happening. His crush was beating him! And he couldn't fight back—cause it would cause a commotion. The blond girl however didn't lay a finger on him, strangely._

"_Ugh... Tell me, why are you attacking me? This isn't just the graduation exams!!" Naruto questioned._

_Sakura grinned. "Bingo. My momma told me to after I told her about you. She said you were a monster that killed Papa, so she sent me to go teach you a lesson! Now here!!" Sakura kicked him again in the jaw. Naruto bit his tongue, and he was bleeding, the girls picked him up by his arms and motioned the blond girl. "Hey, Ino! Throw that rock at him!"_

_Ino looked down at the rock at her foot. She visibly shook, they wanted her to throw that at him?_

_The purple haired girl got mad. "Throw it at him or we'll tell your mommy that your not being mean to him!" Ino thought the girl was insane. He may be a troublemaker, but he... he didn't deserve this! The purple haired girl sighed. "Fine, I'll do it—move!!" She pushed Ino on the ground and picked up the rock. She was prepared to throw when a strong hand grabbed her wrist tightly. The girls looked up to see a woman wearing a black robe and hood that hid her face._

_The woman glared. "It's not nice to throw rocks at boys, isn't it? You three had better leave this boy alone, or I'll be forced to dispose of you children..." Her voice sounded sickeningly sweet and her killing intent was enough to send all three girls running terrified._

_Naruto coughed up blood as the woman leaned forward to check up on him. "You're hurt... Can you stand?" The blond blushed a bit when he heard her voice, it was angelic and beautiful. The boy tried to stand; but he clenched his ribs in pain._

"_Those girls did a number on me. How weak am I... can't even fight girls." Naruto said between spitting out blood._

_The woman shook her head. "No, no. You did the right thing. They probably wanted you to fight back—it's okay, kid. Now then, let's patch you up; I'll carry you." The boy weakly nodded._

_Later after the hooded woman fixed him up, Naruto found himself looking at the village from the Fourth's head that was carved on the mountainside with the rest of the Hokage's._

_The boy leaped up in joy. "Thanks, miss! That was medical ninjutsu wasn't it?"_

_The woman looked off into the distance. "Yeah, I was taught some medical jutsu by someone, it's not important."_

_Naruto grinned. "It was cool, anyways, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage!"_

_The woman tensed at his name, but then she calmed. "...Aka is my name."_

_Naruto laughed. "Aka? That means red!"_

_Aka smirked and giggled a bit. "So, tell me about yourself."_

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto looked around at the old kunai and shuriken scattered across the field. He picked up one of them.

-_Flashback-_

_Naruto, now nine, has gotten a complete overhaul of his personality. He dropped his mask completely, and now he's more quiet and reserved. Aka has been training him in secret for a while now, his skills are now mid-genin level._

_Two blurs crossed kunai as they landed. Naruto fell to the ground exhausted as Aka dusted off her robe._

"_Naruto-kun, your still having trouble with the **Clone Jutsu**?"_

_Naruto huffed. "Yeah... I just can't do it, my chakra reserves are too large..."_

_Aka strode up to him. "Would it be better if you learn a more advanced technique? Because honestly, at this level of chakra control—you should be able to make a perfect clone. I guess you're just special then, Naruto-kun." The boy disliked being called special. Special meant he would be spat at, or hit._

_Aka smiled at Naruto's displeasure. "Then I'll teach you the **Shadow Clone Jutsu."**_

"_Huh? What's that?"_

_Aka crossed her arms under her breasts. "Well..."_

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto sighed to himself. He felt the will to train just empty out of his system, he was too upset about Aka to do anything. He looked up at the sky and realized the sun was high up in the sky,

"Crap! I need to get my photo I.D. And registration!"

XXXXXXXXXX

The Loner ran through the streets, not paying attention who was there. Naruto wore his newer clothes, an orange scarf across his neck, a black jacket with a dark orange shirt, and matching pants. The blond loved the color orange, even Aka couldn't take it off him. When he arrived outside the tower, he notice someone else there. "Huh? Ino?"

Ino waved as the loner approached. "Hi, Naruto. Gonna get your photo I.D.? Well you better hurry up." Naruto nodded and ran inside.

After his photo, The Third Hokage gave Naruto a lofty smile. "Naruto, it's a fine picture but... You should try smiling more, you know?"

The blond boy shrugged. "I dunno... I mean, I can't find what to smile about these days."

The Third took a smoke from his pipe. "All right then, I won't force you. You can leave—"

"ALL RIGHT OLD MAN! TODAY'S THE DAY I DEFEAT YOU AND BECOME HOKAGE!!!" Naruto and Sarutobi looked towards the door to see a small child charge into the room with a toy shuriken, sadly, the kid tripped over his own scarf; Konohamaru fell with a thud. He got up with a flustered look on his face and pointed at Naruto. "Heey!! You tripped me!!"

The blond was immediately annoyed. "You brat you tripped yourself. Get a smaller scarf."

Konohamru stomped the ground in mock anger. "You can't talk to me like that! Don't you know who I am? I'm the Third Hokage's Grandson!!"

Naruto scoffed. "Tch, I don't care if you were the Third's mother. Your title means nothing if you don't have the respect and ability to back it up."

The younger boy re-adjusted his scarf. "Well that's why I wanna be Hokage! So that way, people will have to respect me! Even you!"

The loner looked at the Third with a suspicious look. "Kid... Konohamaru, do you know what being Hokage entitles? If you don't know, ask your grandfather."

Naruto walked passed Konohamaru on his way out, then the boy turned to him. "Did you ask him?"

The loner half turned to him. "Yeah... but I didn't like his answer."

Later that day, the blond loner wondered aimlessly through town with no apparent destination in mind. He had nothing to steal, and no one to meet, so he was basically free—but one thing bothered him:

"What's that rock doing following me?"

Naruto turned around and the square rock jumped and looked away. The blond put his hands on his hips. "Konohamaru! Get out of there!"

In a poof of smoke, the boy in question appeared. "You saw through my disguise... you're pret-ty clever, rival." He said with an approving grin.

Naruto shook his head. "Not really... Rocks aren't square, and they don't follow people; and plus—w-wait, RIVAL??"

The young academy student grinned even more. "Yup! I've made you my rival! We'll see who achieves their goals first!"

The new genin put a hand under his chin. "Really now? What do you know about my goals? How do you know I haven't already achieved them?"

Konohamaru shook his head. "No way! Someone who dreamed about becoming Hokage doesn't have any small goals!"

Satisfied, Naruto sighed. "Okay... My goal is, to surpass the Fourth Hokage. He is everything I look for in a leader and a role model, and I want to be that and more. I don't know why, but I feel a sense of duty to surpass him, like how a son wants to surpass his father... Anyway, did you ask the Third what it meant to be Hokage?"

Konohamaru nodded. "Yeah! To protect the village and her people with your life, sacrificing everything for Konoha's stability... You may not get acknowledged, people may not approve of it, but as long as there's someone in the village you want to protect, your doing the right thing. That's what it means to be Hokage... and I'll strive for it!"

Naruto grinned. "Good, then may the best man win."

The two shook hands and went there separate ways.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next week Naruto found himself arriving a little late to the academy. He was tense and nervous about Team Selections, he wanted to be on a good team that worked together but that doesn't seem very likely. Heck, with his luck—he'd be stuck on that prick Sasuke's team. Regardless, Naruto shakily went inside, it was there he noticed that everyone graduated is here—he looked up to his seat to notice the spot next to it was occupied, Ino waved as the loner coolly went up to his seat.

"Hey, Naruto." Ino started. "I lost my seat to forehead again...." Ino stared as Sakura tried to desperately ask Sasuke out on a date, only to have him ignore her.

Naruto watched with intense eyes. "So it seems..."

"So, ya nervous?" Ino asked.

The loner tore away from his dark thoughts and buried his face in his scarf. "A little, I don't wanna be on Sasuke's team."

The blond girl looked surprised. "Wh-what? Why not?"

The blond boy sighed. "Don't like him. Our pasts and personalities will clash, thus not making the team suffer, and our odds of success will dwindle."

Ino sighed as Iruka made his presence known. "BE QUIET!!!" He roared using his comical **Big Head Jutsu**. When the class was muted, Iruka continued on. "Ahem, today is the day you all become full fledged genin, I'm proud of you all. Now then, Team 1—"

Naruto turned him out until Team 7 was called. "Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha." The class emo looked up. "Sakura Haruno." Ino put her head down as Sakura shouted true love conquers all at all of Sasuke's fangirls. "...And Chouji Akimichi." The boy just continued eating his chips. "Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka."

The blond loner lazily looked over where Hinata was. She caught sight of him and blushed whilst twiddling her index finger. Naruto knew she liked him a lot, but he wasn't interested—he didn't like the quiet types. He preferred the outgoing, fun having types, like—

"--Ino Yamanaka." The girl looked up as her name was called. "Shikamaru Nara." Shikamaru grunted in his sleep. "...And Naruto Uzumaki will make up Team 10." Iruka finished. Ino looked relativley happy that Naruto was on her team. "Everyone, you are now dismissed to lunch. Take this time to know your teammates." Iruka said as the new genin left for lunch.

At lunch, the two blonds found themselves looking around for their third teammate. They found him under a tree, watching clouds. Shikamaru was so absorbed that he didn't notice Ino call him. "Shikamaru... hey, Shika... grr... SHIKAMARU!!"

The pineapple haired genin was jolted back into reality, he looked up at the two and sighed. "Whaddya you want you troublesome blond? I'm trying to concentrate."

Ino put her hands on her hips. "I figured since we're teammates an all, we'd eat together, right Naruto?"

The boy shrugged. "I guess... I mean, if he doesn't want to..."

Shikamaru grunted. "Nah, that's fine. Next time be subtle when your trying to get someone's attention, Ino. Blowing out someone's eardrum isn't subtle." Ino blushed in embarrassment as they sat down to eat.

Naruto noticed a brown box next to Shikamaru. "A shogi board?"

The pineapple genin nodded. "Yeah... you play?"

Naruto smirked. "Perhaps... wanna see?"

Shikamaru smirked as well and they started playing. In the middle of their match, Naruto got that strange feeling in his stomach again, even tinglier than before. Playing shogi with Shikamaru, conversing with his first friend all the while, made him feel giddy inside. He didn't quite know what it was, but it felt good. Shikamaru was impressed that Naruto was such a good player, he thought of him as an idiot and a troublemaker in the past—but ever since then, the boy changed. Shika found him to be a lot less troublesome than ever before. Ino was having a good time cheering both boys on, it looked like to her that their brains were smoking trying to find a decisive strategy to win. She felt like she belonged on this new team, and it was the start of something beautiful—heck, the platinum blond knew the boys were thinking that to. She even forgot about Sasuke, until—

"Hey guys, mind if I sit with you? I'd sit with my team but Pinky and Sunshine want to be left alone..."

Shikamaru laughed as he looked up. "Sure Chouji, I'm pretty sure Ino and Naruto wouldn't mind, right?" Ino was a bit miffed at the chubby genin calling Sasuke 'Sunshine', but when she thought about it, this was the first time she ever thought about Sasuke since sitting with her team. Weird... The genin conversed lightly until the bell rang, Chouji went back to his team as the new Team 10 went inside.

The new genin went with their teammates as they were called down to meet their new jonin sensei. Team 10 watched as a man walked in, he wore a jonin vest with a sash around his waist with the fire kanji on it, he had spiky black hair and a beard to match. "Team 10?"

The genin looked at him and nodded, the man smiled. "Meet me in the hallway." And with that he coolly walked out and took out a cigarette. When Team 10 arrived to meet their new sensei, they were bombarded by cigarette smoke, the genin coughed and wheezed as the bearded sensei apologized. "Whoops! Sorry about that... Anyway how about we break the ice by introducing ourselves?"

Shikamaru hacked. "You show us how it's done since you took off 10 minutes of our lives with your second hand smoke."

The sensei shrugged. "Ok... I'm Asuma Sarutobi—yeah, the Third's son. I like my cancer sticks, taking naps, and playing shogi. My dislikes are people who think I'll die from this, and butting heads with my father. My goal is to be a family man with a certain lady..." Ino sighed, he was basically an adult Shikamaru! "All right, the girl can go next."

Ino looked up. "I'm Ino Yamanaka! I like Sasuke-kun, and tending to the flower shop. I dislike forehead, and any other girl who's after Sasuke-kun! My goal is to be in the A.N.B.U torture department!" Naruto looked on impressed. The A.N.B.U. Torture department was the last think he'd expect Ino to say.

Asuma was also impressed. "Big dream, but you'll do it someday... Now the pineapple head."

Shikamaru grunted. "I'm Shikamaru Nara, I like napping, watching clouds, and playing shogi. I dislike troublesome people and all things troublesome. My goal is to be an average ninja and have an average career." 

Asuma laughed. "But a ninja's life isn't average. There's twists and turns everywhere that can knock you off your feet—sometimes literately. Now then... you."

Naruto shifted in his seat. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki... I like ramen, my first friend, and training. I dislike the villagers, and a certain woman. My goal is to surpass the Fourth."

Asuma took a smoke and tucked the burnt out cigarette in his pocket. This kid is the Kyubi Jinchuriki—no question about that. It was expected he disliked the villagers, but what about this woman? "...You really think you can surpass the Fourth? That won't be easy, Naruto. But if you do, I'll go down in history as the man who taught the person who would surpass that guy!"

Ino blushed a bit when Naruto, whether he wanted to say it or not, liked her. _'I mean, he isn't ugly or anything, he's rather cute. But I want to be with Sasuke-kun... At least that what my mom tells me...' _The platinum blond also took note of his dislike of the villagers. If she were abused by them too—she'd hate them as well, maybe even more.

Team 10's sensei clapped his hands. "Well then, tomorrow we'll meet at Training Ground 16 for the genin exams..."

"WHAT? Genin Exams? But we already took those!!" Ino exclaimed, she looked at Naruto and Shika for support, but they had 'I knew it' expressions on their faces.

"That's right, Ino. But those were just to weed out the weak, and to pick those who have potential to be genin. We're the only nation that does this—that's why our survival rate is so high, if we send out those who aren't ready to be ninja on missions, their likelihood of them surviving is slim. It's survival of the fittest out there. Anyway the true Genin Exams are created by their supervising jonin to see if they really are genin material. Of the twenty seven graduates, we'll only accept nine. Now then, get some rest, and prepare yourselves for tomorrow... See ya!" Asuma was gone in a poof of smoke before the genin could ask questions.

"Hmph! ...Well, what now?" Ino asked.

"How about we go home and sleep?" Shikamaru suggested, Ino glared at him, and the lazy boy sighed.

"...How about ramen? My treat." Ino and Shikamaru agreed to Naruto's suggestion, and they all left for the ramen stand.

XXXXXXXXXX

Through out their walk, Shikamaru and Ino noticed the spiteful and confused glances and whispers sent towards them, so this is what it's like in Naruto's world... funny thing is—Naruto didn't even notice, or rather, he didn't care. Ino glared back at the civilians and walked closer to Naruto, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow. Regardless, the made it to Ichiraku ramen, the proprietor greeted them.

"Hey there, Naruto! Who are they, your new teammates, and where's that Aka at, anyways?" Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku, asked.

Naruto frowned. "Aka's gone."

Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, looked surprised. "What? Really?"

The blond boy nodded. "I'd rather not talk about it, anyway can you fix us up? I'll have the usual."

Ino smiled at the owner. "I'll have that new diet ramen!"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Gimme beef, and that'll do."

Teuchi and Ayame quickly got to work. Ino wanted to ask Naruto about this 'Aka' person, but instead she said: "You come here often?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they gave me food when no one else did. I think they did it just because they didn't want to see a kid starve. But now... maybe they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts?"

Ino grinned as she peered into the back, where Teuchi and his daughter were working hastily, yet skillfully. "I think it's because of the latter, more so than the former."

Naruto 'hmmed' as the father daughter duo walked out with fresh ramen in their hands. "Eat up!" Teuchi said. Naruto dug right in, Shikamaru and Ino were astounded on how much ramen Naruto inhaled—it was a side of him the two never saw before. Team 10 had several bowls of ramen (well, Naruto made up the several bowls) and called it a day.

The blond loner put the money on the table. "Your ramen is as good as always, take care." The Ichiraku family smiled and waved as team 10 left.

Ino whistled over at Naruto. "You sure know how to eat, Naruto! Who knew?"

The loner shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I dunno. There's a lot you don't know about me."

Shikamaru stretched, satisfied that he didn't have to eat dinner. "Welp, I'm going. This is where we part." And with that, he left.

The platinum blond put her hands on her hips. "Jeeze, without even saying good-bye!" She turned to Naruto. "Well, Naruto I'm going home, too. We got a big day tomorrow so get some rest! Okay, bye!" Ino ran off towards the flower shop. Naruto waved good-bye and sighed. He was alone, it was then, walking home in the cold night, he realized something.

He hated his solitude.

He knew that Shikamaru and Ino were having a good time with their families, how he wished to be like that. He hated the Kyubi even more for taking his parents away. The Third always told him that the Kyubi killed his parents, because they never gave up protecting the village, Naruto had no choice but to believe this—but somewhere in his gut, there's more to that story than the Third let on. With a shaky sigh, Naruto walked up to his home, and went inside. He had a big day, tomorrow—best to be in top form.

XXXXXXXXXX

**A/N: Well, there's Chapter 2 for y'all! Some questions have been raised:**

**How will the Genin Exams go for Team 10?**

**How will Team 7's dynamics change with Chouji on the team?**

**When will the NaruIno-ness start?**

**Who knows? I know! See you next time!**

**-Dzero9, out.**


	3. Trust

**A/N: Yo, back with more Lone Fox! Naruto and co. will take the genin exams, will they pass or fail?**

**XXXXXXXXX**

Naruto arrived at Training Ground 16 rather early. He wanted to think without the eerie quietness of his home. He thought about Team 10, and his new sensei, he wondered if he could trust them. Ino was his first friend but he didn't know much about her, and vice-versa. Shikamaru is a lazy bum, but a genius in his own right, and Asuma-sensei is the Sandaime's son. Naruto sighed. _'Can I trust them to never abandon me? Will they leave me behind to die?' _The boy scoffed as his thoughts got darker. _'Who am I kidding? Of course they would, I should only trust myself...' _The blond shook his head with a look of confusion. "Where did that last thought come from...?" Naruto said allowed, he felt as if his thoughts were robbed for a moment. The blond sighed, Aka's betrayal must be hitting him harder than he thought.

It wasn't long until Asuma arrived, the bearded Jonin noticed his troubled student in deep thought—he calmly strode over to where Naruto was. "Naruto, you're early."

The tobacco addict expected the boy to jump a little, but instead he just turned around casually. "...Asuma-sensei."

The man put a hand in his pocket. "You seem a little bit troubled, Naruto. Is there something the matter?"

Naruto buried his face into his scarf. "No."

"You're lying." The Jonin retorted.

"It doesn't concern you." The blond replied sternly.

Asuma sighed. "It does concern me if you're gonna be on my squad. You're not going to perform at your best if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders; c'mon you can trust me."

Naruto was silent for a moment. What his bearded sensei was saying is true, he can't let his past get in the way of his missions, what if it costs his own life, even worse—his team? But still... "Asuma-sensei, how do you trust someone?"

Asuma blinked at that question. _'Poor kid... something really bad must've happened to make him question what trust is...' _"Well, you trust someone based off their character and where their loyalties are..." The bearded Jonin noted Naruto's attentiveness. "You can trust someone if there kind, sincere, and so on and so forth."

Naruto frowned. Aka was both of those things, yet she still betrayed his trust. "So what if that person has all those trustworthy characteristics—yet they still betray your trust?"

The Jonin looked up into the sky. "Then... That's just your own fault. It's your fault for your poor judgment, that you couldn't see that someone's character was fake. If you can't figure the differences, you wont survive in the ninja world; remember that."

The blond put his head down. He knew that Asuma is right, the boy would be dead and gone if he couldn't see the difference in someone's true character. He heard approaching footsteps and turned to see Ino and Shikamaru make their way to the training grounds, Naruto looked at them quizzically. _'Can I be a better judge this time?' _he thought as he jogged up to them. "I see you two made it on time."

Ino smiled at him. "Of course! I don't plan on failing so soon because I'm late!!"

Shikamaru just yawned. "My mom wouldn't let me sleep in because of this stupid exam. Let's get this over with." He stretched and yawned some more as Ino sighed at him.

They turned to see Asuma light up a cigarette. "Alright... the test is simple, you must knock this cigarette out of my mouth. Don't worry about it burning out too soon, this is a special slow burning one I made—it will keep burning for an hour. If you fail to do so, you will be sent back to the academy." The genin gulped at this.

"But... what if one of us gets the cigarette?" Ino asked.

Asuma chuckled. "I'll be teaching you one on one then, now let's stop wasting time and let's start."

The ninja all scattered into the greenery around them, the team 10 genin regrouped later. "It's obvious what he's trying to do." Shikamaru started.

Naruto looked over at him. "Get us to fight amongst ourselves and challenge him alone. That way he can pick us off, one by one."

Ino was confused. "I don't get it, he seems to take a liking to us—and plus the goal of this test is too easy."

The pineapple headed genin nodded. "I concur. He wants us to pass and be a team, and he doesn't want to do this test. I'll ponder why he's making us later, but for know we need to plan.

Meanwhile in a clearing Asuma took a shaky exhale of his cigarette. It's been a while since the test started. _'I wish they hurry up and get this over with.'_

Suddenly, Naruto dropped down from his hiding spot. "Asuma-sensei, let's do this."

The bearded Jonin looked surprised. "Naruto? Why are you fighting me alone? What about your team?"

The blue eyed boy scoffed. "Tch, like I can trust them to have my back. I'll fight on my own."

Asuma sighed. "Well let's go..."

Naruto made a cross-fingers seal, **"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **The Naruto clones poofed into existence, Asuma looked impressed. The clones charged forward with a series of punches and kicks, Asuma expertly dodged and sent a kick at one of the clones, the blond boy gritted his teeth as his sensei dispatched the clones. The blond used the smoke from the last **Shadow Clone **to his advantage and attempted to grab the cigarette, the Jonin caught Naruto in the headlock before he could get his fingers on it.

Asuma tightened his grip on the struggling blond. "Naruto, I expected better from you, why charge in so blindly? Why not trust your teammates?"

Naruto grunted. "Stop telling me to trust them! I don't have to, and you can't make me!"

The tan-skinned Jonin shook his head. "They're your teammates, Naruto!!"

"Shut up!" The blond then poofed into smoke, Asuma's eyes widened when he disappeared.

The Jonin looked around, and sighed. _'A __**Shadow Clone **__the whole time...'_

From his hiding spot, Naruto and his team grinned. "Good job, Naruto! You really pulled one over him!" Ino quietly exclaimed. The male blond rubbed his nose in mock triumph.

Shikamaru nodded to Ino. "It's your turn."

More of the cigarette was gone when Ino dropped down. Asuma blinked. "Never expected you to be next, Ino."

Ino sighed. "Well... Naruto wanted to be alone and Shikamaru is asleep." That made the Jonin want to kick himself, his team sucks—and he's very disappointed.

Asuma rotated his arm. "Shall we get this over with?"

The platinum blond knew a Jonin wouldn't fall for her **Mind Transfer Jutsu **and taijutsu was out of the question, so instead Ino jumped up and threw shuriken and kunai at him, Asuma dodged each and every blade successfully, and then made some hand seals, **"Fire Style: Smokescreen!" **Ino became enveloped by them and coughed and wheezed. She fell to her knees as her eyes stung, she strained her eyes to see a figure approaching.

The figure came closer into view to reveal himself as none other than Sasuke Uchiha. The last Uchiha was skewered with kunai, shuriken, senbon, etc. He looked truly gruesome. "I-Ino... My sensei... k-killed my t-team... help..." He managed to say as he coughed up blood.

The scene was enough to make Ino scream and faint. Asuma dispelled his transformation and frowned at the girl as the smoke cleared. "This team is horrendous. I expected a lot better from you three..." That's when the platinum blond poofed into smoke. "A **Shadow Clone!?"**

Asuma tried to move but he couldn't. _'I'm stuck! I can't move!'_he looked down to see his shadow connecting to another shadow.

"**Shadow Possesion, **successful." Shikamaru said from behind him, his blond teammates appeared on either side of Asuma.

"Not bad, Shika. Managed to catch him." Naruto said without taking his eyes off the Jonin.

The pineapple headed genin sighed. "It wasn't easy finding an opening, fortunately you guys provided all the distractions I needed." Shika motioned Asuma to take the cigarette out of his mouth and toss it. "Ino, can you get that?"

The platinum blond ran towards it and picked it up. "We got it!" She cheered.

Asuma smiled proudly. "Nice use of deception, you three! This team has great things in store for them, welcome to Team 10!"

Ino cheered again in delight, Shikamaru sighed in relief and released the jutsu, Naruto just grinned as he felt that giddy feeling again. "We're a team, a team, a team!!" Ino cheered again as she glomped her fellow blond, too bad he didn't see it coming so he went down to the ground.

Asuma laughed heartily at the blonds anitcs. "Okay, okay. Tomorrow we'll be doing missions, starting at 900 hours sharp. Don't be late!" He said as he vanished in a poof of smoke.

Shikamaru scratched his head as his teammates picked themselves up off the ground. "Whelp, I'm off. See you." He waved with the back of his hand as he strode off.

Ino looked over at her fellow blond. "I'd better go, too." She said a she started to leave.

"Ino, wait."

The girl looked over at Naruto. "Yeah, what is it?"

The blue eyed boy had a blank expression. "I have a question to ask you, it's been bugging me lately."

Ino tilted her head to the side. "Okay, ask."

"Why do you like Sasuke?"

The platinum blond looked at him with widened eyes. She never expected he'd ask her that question, what should she say?

Naruto continued. "You don't talk about him much, and it seems like you put on a mask around him, acting like his fangirl. I'm just curious."

The blond girl sighed, "I... I don't... I don't like Sasuke that much."

The boy widened his eyes. How long has this been? Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised. "Really now? Since when?"

Ino looked up into the sky. "Since, well, forever. I never really liked Sasuke, but all the other girls did. I guess one of the reasons I have to chase after him is because I wanted to fit in."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "...The other reason?"

"My mother told me that I should want to marry him in the future, so she told me to get to know him. I never got to because Sasuke's like a tightly shut door. I disliked the fact that my mother was forcing me to be something I'm not, Of course I want to have the perfect boyfriend and maybe husband, but Sasuke doesn't fit the bill."

Naruto looked on interested. "...Oh? Then who does?"

The other blond just giggled. "Who knows? That person may be closer than both of us may think." She turned and started to leave, Naruto shrugged and did the same.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile with Team 7, Chouji was tied to a post whilst Sakura and Sasuke sit on the ground with lunches in their hand. Their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, looked disappointed.

"Well at least one of you have a grasp on the point of this test." He looks at Sakura and Sasuke with an invisible frown. "You two however don't get it at all. Sasuke, you mocked and picked on Chouji and told off Sakura so you can get the bells on your own. Sakura, you got KO'ed by a simple Genjutsu. I was extremely disappointed in that, and top it off you didn't accept Chouji's help and went off to find Sasuke." However, he turns to Chouji with a smile. "Chouji, you got this from the very start. I saw how you desperately tried to tell your teammates the purpose of this exam, but sadly they wouldn't listen.

The plump genin grinned, then looked at his sensei quizzically. "So... why am I tied up?"

Kakashi smiled. "I'm taking you as my apprentice, and we're going to Yankiku Q. Sasuke and Sakura will be expelled from the ninja system."

Sakura gasped as Sasuke seethed. _'Why does this fatso get to be a ninja? I'm an Uchiha, an Avenger to my fallen clan! I'll never kill Itachi if I can't be a ninja! This just isn't fair!'_

"Sensei, please, give them another chance. We'll work together, I promise you." Chouji pleaded.

The cyclops Jonin sighed. "Fine, but you two had better not give any food to Chouji. I. Mean. It." And with that he vanished in a poof of smoke.

The two united genin ate quietly until their chubby teammate's stomach growled. Chouji blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry guy, but I'm so hungry."

"...Here." Team 7's emo offered up his lunch, which Shocked the hefty genin, Sasuke addressed his surprised. "Look, we can't have you drag us down from hunger. We need to be at top form to take those bells."

Sakura also offered up her lunch. "Take mine, too. I don't eat much anyway."

That's when their sensei appeared. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?!?"

The genin nearly jumped out of their skin when he appeared. "Chouji will only slow us down since he's hungry, so we gave him our food!" Sasuke suddenly shouted.

"That's right, how are we going to work as a team if we aren't all in this together?" Sakura said also.

Kakashi's glare softened. "All right, you pass."Team 7 looked shocked. "Since you guys seem to have a grasp on teamwork, you pass. Now we can start missions as team 7!"

Chouji cheered, Sakura attempted to hug Sasuke, but the emo pushed her off. Kakashi sighed, his team will need a lot of work.

**XXXXXXXXX**

That night, Naruto went home, his solitude awaited him—best not to keep it waiting. The blond later went into the shower, Aka had fixed it up for him after they discovered this place. Naruto let the memories of today flow into his mind as he let the water ran down his body, he couldn't help but smile.

_'Now I'm on a genin team for real. I can't wait for the future.'_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it! Sorry, at the last paragraphs of this chapter my good mood was absolutely ruined by my mother, so I didn't reach the 3k+ limit. It doesn't matter I'll do it next time. So, review, favor, etc.**


	4. Kill

**A/N: Hey readers, I'm back with another chapter of The Lone fox Redux. I apologize about the month long wait, but it was 90% laziness and 10% Son of the Kyuubi being in it's final stages. Also, I've been getting some neutral reviews and messages about the Story's title and description and I wanna say this:**

**Get over it.**

**I don't care if you disagree with the title, quite frankly—why does it matter? I want to know if my story is good enough for people and if they enjoy it or not.**

**Anyhow, that's just how I feel about things, but let's get started.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Team 10 has been a functional genin team for several weeks now, and things have been looking up for the genin and their sensei, too.

Naruto, while still cautious, has finally started to trust his team, and allowed them to know a few things about himself. He told them he loves ramen, which Shikamaru and Ino pretty much guessed, and he is especially weak to miso ramen. He also told them he has a small garden nearby his private training field, which Ino wanted to see. Naruto was careful not to tell them about his training and Aka. The blond has also started to smile more and talk more to his team, Asuma says he's a work in progress.

Ino has started to take her training seriously for once. Asuma discovered her stamina, chakra, and overall taijutsu, was utterly pathetic, so he put her on a rigorous training regimen along with team building exorcises. Now the girl can keep up with the boys (mostly Shikamaru) during their training, and she's been working with her sensei on a new jutsu.

Shikamaru's still as lazy as ever, but he's been training hard to make sure his team stays alive on future missions. The pineapple headed genin was told stories about fellow leaf ninjas dying because their teammates were too weak to save them. Shika has been learning new shadow techniques from his clansmen to help him out in battle, though none of Team 10 knows about this.

Asuma sees his team more and more like younger siblings than students, and it's been helping him score points with a certain Kurenai Yuhi. The bearded Jonin has concentrated on tightening Team 10's teamwork and helping them with their social skills, primarily Naruto. Asuma even went to his father to ask him about this woman the blond seems to dislike, but old Hiruzen wasn't talking, Asuma figured he'd have to wait until Naruto opened his heart up to him more—but who knows how long that will take?

We now found Team 10 doing a simple D-rank assignment...

"This... sucks... balls..." Ino griped as they picked weeds from a garden. Ever since Team 10 have been genin, this is what they've been doing a 'missions'-menial chores.

"Ino—language." Asuma teased as he took a smoke from under a tree. He figured he didn't have to help them since these mission are way too easy and mostly bothersome on his part. And it was amusing to watch the platinum blond rage about these D-ranks.

"Shut up, you!" Ino fired back. Naruto who already finished a bag of weeds, sighed as he got started on another. He would be like Ino is right now if he didn't have better self control.

Shikamaru, however, just groaned at her. "Ino, quit being so darn troublesome."

"You stop being lazy, you bum!" The girl shot back.

Naruto knew he had to put a stop to this before he bursts out laughing at Ino's antics, he walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Ino, you don't need to get upset. Look—we're done." Ino looked to see that they were indeed done with weed pulling, the blond sighed in relief and thanked her friend for calming her down. The old lady who hired them thanked them for a job well done.

* * *

(At the Hokage's office)

"Mission Accomplished, dad." Asuma sighed as he finished off another cigarette.

Sandaime carefully read over the mission report and nodded. "Good job Team 10, just as I expected from you. Now then, for your next mission we have chasing Tora—"

"No, no, no, no! I don't want another stupid D-rank!" Ino shouted. She noticed she said that a bit too loudly as officials and other teams were looking at her funny. "I mean, c'mon Sandaime-sama, the missions are dull and something academy students should be doing. Give us a mission worth our time, please?" She finished a lot more quietly.

"I'm sticking by her, old man." Naruto suddenly said. "When I became a ninja, I thought I'd be out there putting what I learned to the test, and representing the greatness of Konoha shinobi. I never expected pulling weeds or chasing cats prove how our ninja are second to none." Ino blushed a bit as Naruto defended her statement, Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, muttering something about 'troublesome D-ranks', and Asuma smiled proudly at the boy.

Sarutobi blinked a couple of times, he could've sworn he heard that exact same statement from someone else before. _'Could it have been from Minato?' _

Iruka, who was in charge of handling missions, wasn't moved. "It doesn't matter? You three are still fresh out of the academy! What makes you think you can do higher rank missions?"

Naruto frowned, he knew Iruka was worried for him, but still, "We won't know until we get one, right?"

The scarred chunin blinked a few times. "W-well, that's true..." He looked over at the Hokage for some help, but he was still deep in thought.

"C'mon dad, can we pleeease have a C-rank mission?" Asuma pleaded, "My skills are rusting because of these missions!"

Sarutobi laughed heartily at his son's displeasure of the missions. "All right, stop begging. I got the perfect mission for you, your job is to escort her—"

Just then the door opened, and a girl about the genin's age walked in. She had deep chocolate brown hair and hazy blue eyes, she had a simple white dress that went down to her shins, and a straw hat that was tied around her neck.

Asuma's eyes widened, she was older, but she was definitely, "The Daimayo's daughter?" He turned to his father. "You want us to escort her?" His genin's eyes widened, at what he said. The Daimayo's daughter? Wasn't this a bit much for a C-rank?

Sarutobi tilted his heat. "That's right. Your mission is to escort the Daimayo's daughter back home."

"Old man, isn't this a bit much? Wouldn't enemy ninja jump at the chance to try and kidnap her or something?" Naruto asked.

The Third waved his hand dismissively. "You don't have to worry about that. You see, ninja don't target the Daimayo or there family, since there's the threat of war with the Hidden Village that they've crossed. Even rogue ninja won't bother with the risk." the genin calmed after hearing that.

The daughter of the Daimayo decided to make her presence known. "Hello, I'm Ameriya. It's nice to meet you guys." She said with a polite bow.

Asuma grinned. "I haven't seen you since you could barely walk. I'm Asuma if you haven't heard of me, and these are my students." He said gesturing to them.

Ameriya smiled at them. "Nice to meet you! And yes, I've heard a lot about you, Asuma-sama. My father wishes you haven't left the Twelve Ninja Guardians."

"Twelve Ninja Guardians?" Ino asked, Asuma scratched his head, and said he'd explain later. He let his team know to meet at the Gates in one hour, and not to be late.

* * *

(At the Gates)

Naruto arrived at the Village Gates earlier than expected. He had his backpack with extra scrolls, rations, etc. for what he needed on the mission. The blond was quite giddy as it's his first time out of the village, he noticed his fellow blond stomp her way to the Gates. "Ino... something happen?" He asked. The blond girl was clearly upset.

Ino huffed and crossed her arms. "It's my friggin' mother, she didn't want me to go on the mission because I would be out of the village with you, and what's more she tried to threaten me and you! I despise the way she tries to take control whenever my father's not around—I HATE her!" She shouted, the sting of tears threatening to build up in her eyes.

Naruto looked at his first friend with sombre eyes. "Hate is such a strong word, you know you don't mean it."

Ino looked down at her toes, quivering. "B-but..."

Her orange clad friend put his hand on her forearms. "Look, you don't hate her. You may be angry at her, but you should be glad you have your mother, and father, there for you." Ino looked up a bit at him. "I wish I had parents to nag at me, but sadly, they're dead. I don't have any memory of them, nor do I have a single picture of them. I don't know if they died spiting me like the rest of the villagers or loving me. You wouldn't want to grow up watching kids and their parents get along while you stand by yourself like a disease."

The purple clad girl never knew Naruto had it so rough, and he was right, too. She couldn't bear watching other kids with their parents as she just watched as no one waited for her. Now she begun to understand Naruto's pain. Ino smiled at the boy shyly. "Thanks, Naruto. You have a knack for calming me down." Naruto just grinned.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Realizing you'll never get Sasuke-kun so you go after trash? How disappointing, Ino-pig." Naruto and Ino were broken from the comfortable silence to see none other than Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke just started at them haughtily. "If it isn't the loser squad. Where's that sloth of a teammate of yours and that walking smokestack of a sensei?"

Ino frowned at the two for disrupting the comfortable silence between her and Naruto. "First off: Naruto isn't trash, Forehead! Second: Don't talk about Shika and Asuma-sensei like their beneath you, Sasuke!" Naruto blinked a few times and turned to Ino. She's defending him? He couldn't believe someone would do that. Sakura gritted her teeth and also took note of her lack of the 'kun' honorific for Sasuke's name.

Sasuke smirked. "Oh, but they _are _beneath me. I am a member of the Great Uchiha Clan."

"Oh, right. The same 'Great Clan' that got slaughtered like animals in one night by one man. That's pretty 'Great' if you ask me." Naruto replied nonchalant and cool about every word.

The Raven haired boy was still touchy about the massacre of his clan. Naruto always had the habit of bushing the wrong buttons with him. "Why you little—"

"-Anyway, why are you two even here? We're waiting for our sensei and 'sloth of a teammate' to get here with our client for a C-rank mission." The blond male interjected.

Sasuke grew even angrier. "How the heck did you fools obtain a C-rank mission? I'm an Uchiha! I should've done dozens before you lot even get considered for one!"

Naruto glared at him as he stood to the side. "There you go again. Using your name as an excuse. Look, Sasuke, your name doesn't mean anything in the ninja world." He proceeded to smirk. "Unless...it's to identify your corpse."

Sasuke was livid. "Bite your tongue, knave!"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Bite my tongue? Pfft, been there, done that. Ask your pet, she had the details right to the gory bits."

Sakura glared. "I only attacked you because my mom and Ami said to do it, you freak! And besides, you deserve the beating anyhow!"

"Naruto is NOT a freak you big-headed banshee! You always do what your told, and try to drag me into it! Why don't you and your emo boy-toy leave us alone!" The pinkette sputtered and stuttered, not knowing what to say. Sasuke was a tad miffed that Ino wasn't his fangirl anymore, but hey...

Sakura finally managed to form a complete sentence. "Ino, what happened? Don't you like Sasuke-kun anymore?" She said almost quietly. The pinkette turned to Naruto in anger. "I bet you have something to do with this, don't you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I didn't do anything. Ino merely wished to stop pretending and be true to herself."

"That's right, forehead. I never liked Sasuke. It was a combination of peer pressure and mother that made me chase after him. But now I can finally be myself again, and no longer have to worry about the likes of you. Being on this Team has taught me that." Ino answered truthfully. Sakura was shaking her head the whole time, unable to accept what he former friend was saying.

Naruto snickered when he saw this. "Just because Ino's answer doesn't sit well with you, doesn't mean you should call it all lies and blame others, 'cuz I know that's what your doing inside your head."

Sakura screeched and prepared to punch Naruto's lights out, the boy didn't flinch at all as her fist came closer to his face—

"Yo! What's going on?" All of the genin present turned to see Asuma walk up with Shikamaru, and the client. Sakura quickly retracted her fist and looked away as the bearded Jonin walked between them, he took a smoke and smiled at Team 7. "Ah, you guys must be Kakashi's genin. Sorry, but we must be going now, we'll see you when we get back." Sasuke just nodded and proceeded to walk away, Sakura bowed and ran after the black haired boy. Asuma chuckled and tipped his cigarette. "Walking smokestack, eh?"

Naruto and Ino looked up at the man with wide eyes. "And us? Below him? Please." Shikamaru spat.

"So, you guys were watching the whole time?" Ino asked. Asuma, Shikamaru, and Ameriya nodded stiffly.

Naruto shook his head as Asuma smiled at the blondes. "You two handled the situation better than I thought. I could've sworn Sasuke was about to fight you when you made that jibe about the massacre, Naruto. I'm really glad you both didn't resort to physical violence when the argument escalated."

Naruto 'hmmed'. "Well, you taught us better than that, and I'm sure I wouldn't get off easy if I punch the daylights out of Sunshine. Fortunately I have better self-control."

Ino just sighed. "I dunno about you, Naruto. But I was ready to kick the crap out of Forehead. I consider our friendship over now after that."

Ameriya looked between the two blondes with a smile. "It was especially sweet of you two to defend each other like that." She said with a giggle. Ino blushed while Naruto buried his face under his scarf to hide his.

"A-anyway, can we go now?" Naruto said.

* * *

(Later that Night)

A weary Team 10 made their way to a hidden campsite that was once used by the Guardian Ninjas until recently. Asuma sat down on one of the rocks nearby the fire pit. "Alright, we'll set up camp here. I'll get the fire going while you three set up tents. Ameriya, I bet you're tired, so come sit with me." Naruto and Shika nodded, Ino however still had her head down. It was rough getting to where they can set up camp, they had to fight bandits along the way which traumatized Ino since she made her first kill today. Naruto looked over at her, worried.

After camp was set up, Ino said she was going to find a spring where she can bathe. Asuma pointed one out for her and she went without a word. _'Not only did she make her first kill, she...' _"I'm worried about Ino." He suddenly said.

"So am I, She was a complete mess earlier and she wont talk to us." Naruto replied.

Shikamaru looked over at the blond and nodded. "Yeah, she just kept her head down the whole trip after those bandits attacked." He looked over at his sensei. "What happened? I was too busy fighting to really pay attention."

Asuma took a hit from his cigarette. "She stabbed a bandit in the throat after he touched her."

The boys' eyes widened. "He WHAT!" they both asked.

Ameriya glanced over at the Jonin as he continued his story. "Yeah, I saw her get touched, then Ino broke free from his grip and stabbed him in the throat."

Naruto put his head down, his first mission, and he failed to protect his first friend from getting hurt. He felt awful that she could potentially be scarred for life now. "Asuma-sensei, where is the spring you pointed to? I'm going to go talk to her."

* * *

(At the spring)

Ino sighed as she let the warm waters wash away the dirt and grime from today's events. The girl leaned back calmly listened to the waterfall as she remembered what had happened...

-Flashback-

_It's been about an hour sent they left the village and already they were surrounded by a group of bandits. They asked to hand over their client after Asuma politely asked them to step aside, but they were adamant on starting trouble. And so the fight insured, Ino found herself getting separated from her team by the lead bandit, who snuck up on her. The bandit leader hoisted her up and painfully squeezed her hands so she could drop the kunai she was holding._

"_Let me go!" Ino demanded as she flailed about, trying to break free. The leader bandit held her wrists in his left hand, so he punched his in the stomach with his right fist. Ino gasped and coughed as the wind was knocked out of her._

"_Feisty, aren't we?" He jeered. "I bet you're wondering how did I sneak up on you, well guess what—I used to be a Genin of Konoha!" Ino's eyes widened as she coughed and wheezed, trying to catch her breath. The bandit leader trailed a finger across her arms and legs. "Such soft skin..." he then proceeded to grab her right breast, and gave it a tight squeeze. "And an even softer bosom..."_

_Ino groaned at the painful grab and started kick her feet wildly, she manage to kick him between the legs, the leader dropped her at the sudden rush of pain. The blond furiously grabbed her dropped kunai and lunged at him—stabbing him in the throat. The leader died before he hit the ground. The genin let the adrenaline control her as she jumped on him and stabbed him again in the throat, when she got up and let the adrenaline die down, it's only then she realized what she had done. Ino lost it and deposited her lunch on the ground, she fell as the strength in her legs failed._

_Asuma raced over to her when he witness her go down in shock. "Ino!" He shouted as he ran over to her. He tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she inched away. "Ino..."_

_the platinum blond looked up at him, trying to control her sobs. "I killed him, sensei. I'm a monster..."_

-Flashback End-

The blond looked at her reflection in the water, she felt dirty and all kinds of awful inside. That's when Ino could no longer control her tears from spilling out from her eyes again.

"Ino?"

The girl looked up and scanned the area, she covered herself with her arms as she looked around. "W-who's there?" She asked, her bottom lip quivering.

"It's me, Naruto. Don't worry, I'm not peeking at you, I'm hiding behind this tree—see?" Ino saw an arm giving her a backhanded wave from behind a tree, the girl sighed in relief.

"Oh, Naruto..." she whispered as calmed herself a bit. "What brings you here?" She said in a monotone.

Naruto turned his head to the side of the tree. "I'm worried about you. Asuma told us not only you made your first kill... That bandit... touched you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you." He finished with gritted teeth.

"...Why does it matter? I'm a monster for killing him, so you shouldn't be sorry—"

"-Ino you are not a monster!" Naruto shouted. The girl stopped in her tracks. "Ino... you're loud, brash, bossy, you act first and think second, you're cheerful, and fun to be around with. And to top it off, you're my very first friend, no monster could ever be my first and best friend." The platinum blond was stunned silent. She heard Naruto sigh as he continued. "...I'll get stronger. I'll protect you next time. You're special to me because you saved from the loneliness I was dragging myself into ...this bond I have with you will always be close to me, and I wanna preserve it. Forever."

Ino looked down with widened eyes as tears started to fall, this time they were tears of happiness. "N-Naruto... thank you!"

The blond grinned behind the tree. "All right... I'll be heading back to camp." And with that, Naruto started his walk to the rest of Team 10.

* * *

**A/N: That's the end of the chapter. Now I've established some tender moments between Naruto and Ino, I can be evil and make them suffer... Or will I? Nah, too troublesome... Also, I might change the rating, too. Also Ino has to return the tender moment back to Naruto, am I right?**

**So Next chapter, we'll see the completed mission, Team 7, Wave, and all others craziness in Lone Fox Redux, so who knows what will happen next chapter? I know! See you next time!**

**-Dzero9**


	5. Mission

**A/N: Yo, back with another chapter of Lone Fox! Thanks for the positive reviews to those who did, 'cuz positive reviews are like crack and I can't get enough of it!**

**Anyhoo, after a pep talk from Naruto, Ino is ready to put what happened behind her, and Team 10 can finally finish the mission.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, regrettably.**

**XXXXXXXXX**

It wasn't long after Naruto returned that Ino did, her hair wasn't tied up in a ponytail and she wasn't completely dried off. Asuma looked up from his seat. "Ino? How are you feeling"

The girl smiled at him. "I'm fine now, sorry for making you worry sensei." The bearded Jonin and Shikamaru returned the smile as Ino sat next to her fellow blond.

As the group made light conversation about nothing, Naruto couldn't help but glance over at Ino several times, the blond still couldn't figure out why he said what he said back at the spring:

"_Ino... you're loud, brash, bossy, you act first and think second, you're cheerful, and fun to be around with. And to top it off, you're my very first friend, no monster could ever be my first and best friend."_

Naruto put a hand to his chin as he remember what he said next:

_"...I'll get stronger. I'll protect you next time. You're special to me because you saved from the loneliness I was dragging myself into ...this bond I have with you will always be close to me, and I wanna preserve it. Forever." _

The whiskered boy wasn't so sure of himself. Could he protect her next time? Can he get stronger to do it? And why are his doubts about him and Ino... scaring the genin? '_Why was it that I said those things in the first place? She's my friend and all... but that's something a boyfriend or a husband would say out of... what was the word? Love... right...' _Naruto scratched the back of his head. _'How troublesome...'_

The blond perked up when Asuma called their attention. "Alright team, we'll take turns taking watch as we sleep for the night, in the morning we'll make our way to the Daimayo's mansion. I'll take first watch."

The genin nodded. Shikamaru stretched and yawned. "Then can I take second? I wanna sleep without getting interrupted."

Ino's eyes widened. "Wow... didn't see that one coming. I was ready to yell at you if you wanted to take last watch."

Naruto just chuckled and started off to his tent that he was sharing with the guys. _'Well I don't sleep well outside of my home, so I should've taken watch next but... whatever.'_

"Hey, Naruto!"

The blond turned in Ino's direction. "You called?"

"Thanks... a lot Naruto, you practically saved me from myself." She said sincerely.

The spiky haired genin felt the heat collect in his face, quickly turned around and nodded before going inside the tent.

(Earlier, in Konoha, with Team 7)

Sasuke stormed off to find Kakashi after learning Team 10 got a C-rank assignment, the raven haired boy was beyond angry after that confrontation, and wanted to show Naruto that he was nothing special. "Sasuke-kun, do you know where to find Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, who's been following the boy since the incident. Sakura couldn't believe Ino was over Sasuke like that. That freak Naruto must've done something, the pinkette was sure of it. She didn't want to admit it, but Sakura enjoyed fighting over Sasuke with the platinum blond, it was the thing that made them still friends. But now after Ino went off on that team with the freak she's changed—and the pinkette didn't like it.

"Hey... Sasuke-kun, Ino seems... changed, don't you think?"

"And... I care, why?" The raven haired by said harshly.

The kunoichi just put her head down, that's when Chouji spotted them, eating his infamous bag of barbecue chips. "Oh, there you guys are! Kakashi-sensei's been looking for us—says to meet him at the usual training ground.

Sakura looked up and Sasuke grinned. "That's perfect, let's go."

Kakashi Ha take... the Copy-Cat Ninja, master of over a thousand Jutsu, student to the Legendary Yellow Flash, and... Icha-Icha's #1 fan. We find said person reading said book under a tree. The silver haired Jonin giggled perversely as he read his favorite smut. "Oh yes, Junichi, they are big... hehehe..." The Jonin put the book up when his genin arrived. "There you are, today we'll be—"

"Kakashi, I demand that we do a C-rank mission."

Chouji's eyes widened. "Whoa, hey, Sasuke! It's not like we're weak or anything... but taking on a C-rank is a bit much..."

The Uchiha survivor glared at the plump genin. "Why not? Scared? Sakura agrees with me—don't you?" He said turning to her with a cool smile.

Sakura blushed like a fool at the boy's false smile. "Yeah, I agree with you Sasuke-kun..." She said dreamily.

Their third teammate sighed deeply. Kakashi shook his head. "Fine. Maybe a little taste of the ninja world is just what you needed." Little did the Jonin know, he was going to regret saying that...

(Hokage Tower)

"No! Absolutely not! Team 10 might've gotten away with it because of the circumstances but it's not gonna happen now!" Iruka shouted after learning Team 7's demand for a C-rank mission.

The Sandaime chuckled. "Now, now Iruka... let Kakashi explain himself."

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you... My genin need a little taste of the ninja world to ease some tension. I figured doing a C-rank is just what they need. I'm not asking for a big one, but just something to keep them from pulling my hair out."

Sarutobi nodded. "Ok, then how about an Escort Mission to Nami no Kuni? You'll be out of the country, so the mission will take a while. Your job is to escort a bridge builder."

"Sounds good. We'll accept it."

Iruka shook his head. "I don't believe this... first Team 10 and now Team 7? What's next?"

Kakashi looked over at him. "I don't mean to be blunt but, they aren't your students anymore. If they weren't ready to be ninja, they wouldn't have passed, would they've? You have to have confidence in them, and us Jonin sensei." The scarred Chunin nodded begrudgingly.

Hiruzen nodded to them. "Alright then... send the client in!"

The doors opened and an old drunk entered the room. It was evident he was drinking because of his half empty bottle of courage. He took a swig and eyed the genin. "Hah? They're supposed to protect me? They look weak, especially the fat one."

"..."

"Uh, sir—"

"I'M NOT FAAAT!"

Chouji was ready to bum-rush the old fool if Kakashi didn't grab him by the scarf. "now, now sir, I'll have you know that my genin are fully capable of this mission. And plus—I'm a Jonin, so I'll pick up the slack."

Team 7's client nodded. "Alright fine... My name's Tazuna—a Super Bridge Builder!"

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Right... I'm Kakashi, these are Sasuke, Sakura, and Chouji. Team, I'll meet you in hour, prepare yourselves for the mission during that hour." His team nodded.

(Village Gates, an hour later)

Sasuke was the first to arrive, he stood with his arms crossed and gazed outside of the gates. He could still see Naruto's retreating back along with the rest of his loser team. It made the Uchiha's skin crawl. Sure enough, the rest of Team 7 arrived, as well as their sensei and the client, all on time. Kakashi brought the genin to attention. "Right, shall we go?"

Sakura's eyes widened at their sensei. "Kakashi-sensei you're early... I was prepared to yell at you if you hadn't shown up on time."

The silver haired Jonin shrugged. "I can be on time some of the time. All of the time depends on certain variables..."

"Can we just go now?" Tazuna asked.

Kakashi eyed him and nodded. "Right, let's get moving."

Team 7 were walking casually and making light conversion on their way to Wave, but Kakashi couldn't help but notice several things...

Their client kept occasionally looking over his shoulders.

Chouji wasn't eating as loudly

And there were two suspicious puddles up ahead.

All three meant one thing:

Ninja.

Kakashi had to commend Chouji later, but first, he had to play the fool and walk right past the puddles. Just as he predicted it, two ninja appeared from the puddles and charged, grabbing the Jonin with their barbed chains. The genin turned to see Kakashi get chained, then shredded to pieces.

Their eyes widened in shock. "Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted in anguish.

"One down." One of the ninja said.

Sasuke turned to Chouji and the boy looked at him—they needed to take these guys out. Chouji used his **Partial Expansion Jutsu **on his arms as Sasuke charged forward, both ninja were underestimating the Uchiha as they simply stood there; Sasuke made hand seals, "**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" **the two ninja didn't expect that and tried to block the Jutsu with their gauntlets, but to no avail as shuriken were hidden in them. As they were getting cut up by the tools Chouji made his move to punch one in the face with his super-sized fist, meanwhile Sasuke took care of the other whilst severing their chains. The ninja Chouji punched retaliated with a swipe from his poisonous gauntlet towards Sasuke, the plump genin jumped in the way to receive the swipe to his hand, the Uchiha's eyes widened—leaving him distracted enough for the other ninja to get up and prepare to strike. That's when Kakashi appeared and put them both in a choke hold.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're alive!" Sakura said happily.

Kakashi ignored her for a moment to check on his other genin. Chouji gripped his hand while Sasuke dusted himself off. "You two did good, I'm proud of you both." The two nodded. "Chouji, you should drain the poison out of your hand, then wrap it up in bandages immediately." The plump genin did as he was told and stabbed his hand, he let the poison drain out as he wrapped up his injured appendage. The silver haired Jonin turned to his female student. "Sakura... I'm disappointed in you. All you did was grovel on the ground, and left our client unprotected. What if there was a third ninja? Think about that." And with that, Kakashi left to interrogate the two enemy ninja.

Sasuke walked up to the girl who had her head down. "Hey..." Sakura looked up at him meekly. "You okay... Little Girl?" The pinkette's eyes widened. "And you wonder why I don't like your types. You're weak and pathetic, I hope your proud of yourself." Sakura dropped to her knees and started crying, Sasuke just walked away.

Chouji looked over at him. "Hey, Sasuke, wasn't that a bit... harsh?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "Maybe... but it was the truth."

It was at the moment Kakashi appeared again. "Those two ninja were Chunin Level. They call themselves the 'Demon Brothers'. I 'asked' them why they attacked, and they were after our good client here." Tazuna began to sweat as Kakashi approached. "Okay, out with it. Why were two Chunin level ninja after you? ...This isn't a C-rank mission... is it?"

The old bridge builder darted his eyes and sighed. "No it isn't... I only had the money for a C-rank pay. But you have to hear me out! Wave is a very poor nation, all because that business tycoon, Gatou."

"Gatou? The filthy rich dude?" Sasuke asked.

"The very one. If I can complete our bridge, we can finally get back on our feet and Gatou's control over Wave will slip."

"So he's sending ninja to stop you... This will normally be a B-rank or an A-rank depending on the outcome, this is far too skilled for mere genin..." Kakashi implied.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What? We can handle this just fine! And plus we have you if things get too intense! C'mon Kakashi!"

The one-eyed Jonin looked for approval from his other Genin, Chouji nodded whilst Sakura just 'hmm'-ed. Kakashi sighed. "Well, looks like we'll take the job. But we'll be expecting a full B or A-rank payment after this mission... deal?" Tazuna nodded gratefully.

(With Team 10...)

"ah, we're here at last!" Asuma declared as the group arrived at the Daimayo's mansion. Ameriya ran up ahead of the group to see her father outside waiting for her.

The Lord of the Land of Fire hugged his daughter as Team 10 made it up to the mansion. "Thank you so much for escorting my daughter my ninja... And is that you Asuma? My I almost didn't recognize you with that spiky hair of yours!"

Asuma laughed heartily. "It's good to see you too, Daimayo-sama. It has been awhile, hasn't it? Anyway, this is my team—Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ino." The genin said their hellos to the Feudal Lord.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, why don't we while Ameriya escorts the genin around the mansion? Dinner will be ready in a bit so that'll give us something to do until then."

At dinner, the genin couldn't hide their curiosity any longer. "Asuma-sensei, what are the Twelve Ninja Guardians anyway?" Naruto asked.

Asuma shrugged. "We were ninja chosen by the Daimayo to be his personal guard. I was one of them."

"And one of my best, too!" The Lord interjected.

"Haha, I wasn't that great, my bounty wasn't nearly as big as Chiriku's or any others..."

"A bounty? You have a bounty on your head?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yup, our status made us targets for enemy ninja, especially Iwagakure, since they wanted to spark war again after the Fourth died." The genin 'ah'-ed. Dinner was like this until later that night, the Daimayo offered them to stay, and they agreed. Asuma assigned the boys with him, and Ino could share a room with Ameriya if she wasn't comfortable by herself still. The girls agreed on sharing a room.

In Ameriya's room, Ino laid on the floor in deep thought. She was thinking about those things Naruto said about her, they were honest and heartfelt. The blond never realized how much Naruto valued her and their friendship, it startled her for a moment, but it warmed her heart after hearing those words. She wondered what does Naruto feel about her... and how she really feels about him.

"Thinking about Naruto-kun?"

Ino was snapped into reality and looked up at Ameriya who had a sly grin on her face, the platinum blond felt her face heat up as she looked away. "N-no, how do you figure?"

"Well... you're stuttering, and you looked away, rather than giving me a flat answer." The brunette couldn't help but giggle when Ino's head sank. "I knew it."

"Okay, I am... but it's only because I'm trying to sort my feelings for him."

"Well, do you like him?"

"Not the way you're implying." Ino deadpanned.

Ameriya once again was caught trying to suppress a giggle. "I never tried to imply anything, you were the one who thought that, so maybe you DO have a thing for him."

Once again, the platinum blond sank her head into her blanket. "I walked right into that one... I don't like him like that, he's just a good friend. He's actually nice and pleasant to be around. Even when he was a brat as a kid, his smile brought light into the room."

The brunette nodded. "I guess... I'd go after him myself... but he's a little on the short side."

"It's not his fault... He never really ate anything besides ramen as far as I know. And you know what ramen does to your growth."

"I suppose... But what's this about him being a brat? He was a little quiet on the mission and didn't talk much."

Ino shrugged. "I can't say. One minute he was shouting about becoming Hokage, and the next minute he's all Mr. Dark and Mysterious. I actually kinda miss that side of him, because he could always make you smile when you're down."

Ameriya could imagine Naruto smiling and laughing. "I could see that. But do you think he's just hiding how he truly feels?"

"Maybe... but I don't want to pester him. Let's just get to sleep for now..." The brunette nodded as they started to drift off.

(The next morning...)

"Hey! Ino, get up, this is urgent!" Shikamaru shouted at the door where Ino supposedly was sleeping in.

Just then a sleepy Ino with her hair undone stepped out. "What's the rush... normally you'd be still asleep..."

"I would be... if we didn't get a distress call from Team 7!"

"Team 7? Let's go!"

Ino and Shikamaru made it to the living room of the mansion, where Asuma, Naruto and the Daimayo had serious expressions on their faces. Ino also noticed a little pug that looked pretty messy and beat up. Asuma read over the letter again. "Are you absolutely sure, Pakkun?"

Pakkun, the little pug, nodded. "Positive, I saw it with my own eyes."

The bearded Jonin nodded. "All right, you can go now." Pakkun nodded and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Ino walked up to them. "What's going on?" She asked, fear gripping her sides.

Asuma looked over at her. "Pack up, because we're leaving for Wave to assist Team 7."

the platinum blond's eyes widened. "What? What happened over there?"

Naruto looked up at her. "Not only they were tricked into going on an A-rank mission... but... they lost a teammate."

**XXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: And that marks the end of the chapter! I know, I'm evil for the cliffhanger but hey, at least I 'm not spoiling it for you! So, Team 7's mission turns deadly when someone dies... How will Team 10 react to this, knowing that this mission entitles death? Will one of them die as well? Who knows? I know! See you next time!**

**-Dzero9**


End file.
